THANK YOU. he's yelling yes but not AT her
He is still yelling though, that can be traumatising on its own. And it's all he can do all the time lol. He makes it about him again and it's cool to have a flawed character but I can't see what makes him a good lover after everything that happens in this story, poor Maxi
Hey so people are allowed to yell when they're going through intense emotions.
Its called being human and caring about people you love.
If he sat there and didn't raise his voice once this scene would fall completely flat and be devoid of character development and emotion.
"It's all he can do all the time"
Gee I wonder why the warrior since childhood who leads an army and subjugates monsters would yell all the time it's almost like that's his job
Yk what else is probably traumatizing for Maxi?
BEING WHIPPED SINCE SHE WAS EIGHT
EXACTLY !!
People take their tik Tok therapy speak way too seriously and my god.
It's healthy to yell! It shows you care! It shows you're human and capable of intense emotions.
Nothing he's said has been blaming her.
Gosh, I wish we had more readers like you here, because this fandom is full of fucking idiots who can’t handle or analyze complex stories and characters. If they can’t stand plots with heavy themes, then maybe they should stick to reading fairy tales, watching Peppa Pig, or consuming stories where everyone holds hands, communicates perfectly, and lives happily ever after by chapter 5
EXACTLY THIS LMAO
LIKE CMON YALL IF THERE WAS NO CONFLICT ITS BE WORSE THAT CHILDRENS BOOKS !?!
I don't understand either why people make such immediate judgement calls on a characters entire self within the first 20 chapters. And then hold onto that image and refuse to "forgive".
Nobody wants to push past their own levels of comfort.
"This is a bad action so he's 100% evil" is just sooo reactionary and childish truly!!
"She should just leave", ok cool there are sooo many revenge titles you could read. This never said it would be.
It's like ordering chocolate ice cream then getting mad it's chocolate not mint. Go get the mint you want and stop trying to change something that already told you what it was.
Gun to these kids head and they couldn't tell you what a character foil is or the 5 main elements of a story structure.
Bet they couldn't even fill out the chart!
Like hello what do y'all want? No rising action? No exposition ?
Just straight to climax then conclusion?
That's boring!!
It would be toxic if he was calling her stupid or saying she deserves it etc etc.
But like he is mostly yelling about how helpless and confused he feels.
He is a man of war, and actions. If something is wrong he fights to fix it. Literally in many cases. He doesn't understand how someone could endure abuse like this and not fight back.
They are each other's character foils.
She is beaten into submission by her environment, her stutter, and her family.
She was molded by her life experiences to respond to fear with fawning or freezing.
He was the opposite, he was raised and crafted into a perfect weapon. He knows how to command troops, to have the perfect battle strategy with minimal casualties.
If there is someone being hurt he stops it, and fights the abuser.
To him freezing isn't even a thought.
But it's all she can do.
And since this is all new information for him, plus he literally witnesses his wife who just recently miscarried being whipped so hard she is SOAKED in blood...
Ofc he's going to yell, he's confused and scared and blames himself more than anything.
Him asking her why is him trying to rationalize her decision, he can't wrap his head around why anyone would Want to go back.
He doesn't understand that she felt she had no choice.
He thinks that she is telling him by going back that this is preferable to being with him.
THAT is why is he angry and yelling.
I swear to God no one likes stories with conflicts longer than a few chapters.
It's OK for stories to have long arching character driven conflicts that aren't solved easily. It makes them more human! It would be boring if every story had quick and easy resolutions with perfect communication.
Angst is good!!
I also think kids don't like to feel uncomfortable anymore. It's ok if conflict makes you uncomfortable, that's how you push through and grow!!
Also as someone who was Beaten frequently by a father.. some of y'all have NO idea what's it's like to be under someone's control. To have zero agency. Even when you escape you still end up coming back at least once.
Bc you feel as though there truly isn't another choice sometimes. That you have so little worth that there's no point in trying.
Maxi has been WHIPPED since she was EIGHT !!
She trusts NO BODY
Ofc they're going to struggle as a couple!!!
Tldr; Riftan is a flawed but good man. He is not abusive. Y'all, learn to read difficult things and idk work on media literacy.